[Teg]

The second chapter to the Starr Sinclair book I am writing Enjoy

Chapter 2

When I awoke, it was Sunday. It was eight o’clock in the morning. I’d had the strangest dream, but I couldn’t remember any of it. I was still in the hospital, feeling groggy I looked to the right side of the bed and Clarissa was sitting in the chair reading a book. She must have heard me stir when I woke up. She looked at me with her bright green eyes and she had a huge childish grin on her face. “Are you ready to go home?” she asked. “Ready when you are,” I replied. She went to find the doctor. I sat up in the bed and felt like a new person. I felt no pain, my breathing was normal, my headache was gone, my chest didn’t feel like it was about to cave in, and the gash on my leg was almost completely healed revealing a simple scar. I was in awe, anyone who knew anything about the type of injuries I had endured during the attack knows that it takes more than two weeks to heal.

While I was contemplating, in my head, what could have happened, the doctor and Clarissa entered my room. Just as shocked and in awe as I was, the doctor marveled at the test results and my physical condition. He had told me yesterday I could leave today if everything remained the same. Though my condition improved instead of worsened, I was worried that I’d be stuck here. Clarissa saw the worry on my face and said, “Starr, the doctor said you can go home today.” I turned and searched the doctor’s face for approval. “Yes ma’am, you may go home today. I’m going to go write up your discharge papers. Go ahead and get dressed, the nurse will be in shortly with your papers and further instructions,” the doctor said. Relieved, I searched for my clothes, but I couldn’t find them. Clarissa was standing in the doorway with a bag in hand. “I took the liberty of going to the store and buying you some clothes. The ones you arrived in were covered in blood and had wholes all over them from your attacker,” she said. She handed me the bag and I said, “Thank you.” My serious expression faded and turned into a relieved one. Clarissa must have noticed because she smiled at my relief. “I’ll be right outside this door when you’re done,” she said. I nodded as she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

I got dressed quickly ready to leave this place. My mind was racing, I had a ton of questions, but I wasn’t sure if Clarissa would have the answers. How could she know how I had healed over night? What could she tell me about my mother? What threat was out there that was so bad my father would even think of abandoning me to go find it? Who were the people that attacked us? Why did they kill my father? What did that woman mean when she said I would be more powerful? My heart started racing as all the questions filled my head. The room started to spin, so I sat down on the bed to collect myself. Deep Breaths, I told myself. There you go, in and out. Breathe in and hold it. Breathe out. After my heart had calmed down and my breathing went back to normal, the room stopped spinning. I heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” I called to whoever was standing behind it. Clarissa and a nurse walked into the room. The nurse handed me some papers with instructions to follow up with a doctor in North Carolina as well as a prescription for some pain medication just in case I needed it. Thankfully, the nurse didn’t ask me any questions and we were free to go.


As we walked to Clarissa’s car, we walked in silence. I took in the cool breeze, which was strange for the desert, and let the sun soak into my skin. I missed the warmth of the sun; it felt revitalizing. I noticed Clarissa as she walked just two feet ahead of me. Just like the man who had attacked me, Tristan, she had a fluid motion about her. My gut told me to trust her, though my head was telling me something was off. Something about Clarissa was not right; she was too perfect, just like Tristan and the woman who attacked us. I forced myself to forget about the attack for the remainder of the walk. When we got to the car, she opened the door for me so that I could get in, then she walked around to the driver’s side and got in. As she started the car, questions flooded my head again, so I decided to ask the simple ones. “Where are we going?” I asked. “We are going to my home in North Carolina, but I figured we’d fly instead of drive. You are registered for school and your first day is tomorrow,” she said. I sighed. I didn’t really want to go to school; I hadn’t really had time to grieve over my father’s death. Thinking about this raised my next question. “What happened to my father’s body?” I asked. “I made arrangements to have your father’s body sent to a funeral home near my home. His funeral will be this afternoon, which is another reason we are flying instead of driving. I thought you would want your dad to have a proper burial and that you would like to be there. I hope you are okay with that,” she said. I nodded and stared out the window in front of me as we headed to the airport.

Our plane landed in North Carolina around three in the afternoon, my father’s funeral was to be at six in the evening and we had a two hour drive from the airport to Clarissa’s house. For the first twenty minutes of the drive there was a deafening silence between us. All the questions that had filled my head at the hospital were overwhelming me now. Clarissa must have noticed by the look on my face that I had a lot of questions as she broke the silence first. “Starr, I know you have a lot of questions. About your mom, your dad, the people who attacked you, how you healed so quickly. I promise you tonight after the funeral I will answer whatever questions I can. You are going to meet a lot of family tonight that you didn’t even know you had. These people love you and your father, and have helped protect you since you were a baby,” she said. Protect me from what? I thought to myself. I shook my head in frustration, which ended the one sided conversation. I stared out the window in silence for the rest of the drive.